His Legacy
by IGottaFindYou
Summary: The Cooper baby is ready to be born...but is Sonny ready for it? Major Channy, with slight James/Tawni and Sonny/Tawni friendship. WARNING: There is some tragedy involved.


_Author's Notes: YES, I'm still alive! I AM working on the sequel to my Breakfast Club story, and I WILL be writing the next chapter for my Pirates of the Caribbean story, I just had to get this out of my system first. This story was actually slightly inspired by the One Tree Hill season finale, which featured the song "War Sweater" by Wakey!Wakey! There's a line in the song that goes "...what will your legacy be?" which planted a plotbunny in my head, and VOILA!_

_Later Note: ...And please grab some tissues before you read this story....seriously. It's made some people cry. And though I love to get an emotional response out people (it means I've done my job as a writer), I at least want people to be prepared, especially if they're sensitve.:P_

_Later LATER Note: I have edited the story, so it now includes how far along Sonny was when "the incident" happened, what time the baby was born, what DAY the baby was born, and what the baby looks like.:)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Sonny With A Chance...if I did, I'd invent excuses for Sonny and Chad to kiss every week._

**His Legacy**

_The girl in the bee's - nest wig and waitress uniform (complete with a fat suit) grinned as she offered her hand for the boy to shake._

_"Hi, I'm Sonny."_

_The boy standing in front of her didn't shake her hand, but interest did flash in his eyes for a second as he smirked and autographed a picture for her._

_"Sonny, wow, that's a nice name..."_

* * *

Sonny's eyes snapped open and she sat up with a start. She didn't even realize that she was holding her breath until she exhaled.

She looked around the bedroom and her eyes landed, at first, on the dresser, and the doorway to the bathroom that was about two inches away from it....

_"Why does your stuff get to be on the right side?" he had asked her; surprised at how she was already unpacking, when they had only just finished carrying boxes into the house._

_In the adjoining bathroom, where she was placing the soap dish and the toothbrush holder around the sink, she rolled her eyes._

_"What's wrong with your stuff being on the left side?" she asked._

_He stepped into the doorway so she could see his frown for herself._

_"My right side is my best side!" he told her. "And if my stuff is on the left side of the dresser, then that means I get the left side of the mirror, and I don't want the left side of the mirror because I won't be able to do my hair in the morning, at least not properly...because it's more manageable from the right side!"_

_She rolled her eyes again as she put the handtowels on the metal rack, so they hung right near the soap and the toothbrushes, which she thought was convenient._

_"Y'know, there's a word for people like you," she told him, as she straightened the fluffy green towel._

_He smirked, as he walked further into the bathroom. "Baby, we've been over this before...there is no one else like me."_

_She returned his smirk as she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Yes, but when I said that to you, I meant it as an insult."_

_He walked over to her, almost like a cat approaching a canary, and with his smirk still intact, he looped his arms around her waist. "...No, you didn't."_

_It took nearly all of her will power not to smile at him, but she pulled it off. "Metrosexual," she said._

_He gave her a look of confusion. "Pardon me?"_

_"Metrosexual, that's what you and your kind are called," she told him, not able to hold her smile back any longer. "It means you're completely obsessed with your looks."_

_"No, I'm not," he said, then gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'm completely obsessed with you...my looks are more of a hobby."_

And as if a magnet was leading her eyes, she looked over at the bookcase, that rested against the far wall...

_"This is ridiculous," she grumbled, as her eyes traveled up and down all five shelves, which were practically bursting with books._

_"What's wrong?...Can't find a book?" he asked, as he walked into the room._

_"Oh, I can find all of my books, I just can't find many of yours!" she retorted, as she glared at him._

_He frowned, then he walked across the room and stood next to her._

_"So, what, you wanna borrow one of my books?" he asked._

_"You barely have any books!" she pointed out, gesturing to the large bookcase._

_The confusion was evident on his face as he turned his gaze to the large bookcase._

_"So...you want me to buy some more books just so you can borrow them?" he asked._

_"No, I don't want to borrow any of your books!" she snapped, clearly exasperated._

_"Then what is the problem?" he asked, getting annoyed._

_"You don't read enough!" she yelled._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"You need to read more! Expand your mind a bit!" she told him._

_"My mind is just fine, he told her, bitterly "...your mind, on the other hand...."_

_"You're always watching TV whenever you're at home," she pointed out._

_"So? That's my downtime, that's the only time that I get to relax! And watching TV relaxes me...!"_

_"...You could easily relax by read a book," she told him._

_"It's not like I'm illiterate, I just don't particularly like reading!...You always knew that!" he reminded her._

_"That doesn't mean I always liked it!" she yelled._

_"Well, there are things that I don't like about you, either! So there!" he yelled back. "God, what is your problem?"_

_She took a few shakey breaths as her eyes began to fill with tears._

_"... I just don't want the baby to grow up to be a couch potato!" she shrieked._

_His eyes widened.....and for a moment, time stopped._

_"YEEEES!" He hollered, and grinned as he picked her up and spun her around._

_....And she laughed for the first time that afternoon._

Gently rubbing her large belly, Sonny closed her eyes tightly and counted to ten, the way she did every time she felt the tears starting to form.

"It's OK..." she whispered "...it's OK."

She said that every time, too...though she still wasn't sure if she was speaking to herself, or to the small being inside her.

Then she noticed that her bedsheets were wet...

* * *

After a few difficult minutes of getting herself and her small suitcase down the stairs, Sonny waddled out the front door, locked the door behind her, and sat on the porch swing as she waited for Tawni.

When she had called Tawni and told her that her water had broke, she had quickly realized that Tawni was probably with James, and the rest of their So Random "alumni". She could tell because before Tawni had hung up, she had started to yell at the people around her. Grady was supposed to call Nico, James was supposed to call the wedding caterer and cancel their meeting for that afternoon, and Zora would help her find her car keys, or else.

As Sonny swung gently on the wooden swing, she started to remember the last time she had sat out on the porch, which had been about six months ago, but she'd been with Tawni at the time....

_"Oh my God, I think she just kicked me!" Tawni exclaimed, as she jerked her hand away from the small bump that was now her friend's stomach. "...Man, Cooper babies sure are fierce little things!...or maybe she gets that from her mother's side...?"_

_Her friend rolled her eyes. "May I remind you that she may not necessarily be a she? We could have a boy."_

_Tawni shook her head and pointed to her friend's baby bump."Nah...that's a goddaughter, for sure."_

_The brunette rolled her eyes, once again. "We never actually said that you would be the godmother, y'know."_

_"...Please," Tawni scoffed. "Lucy's no competition for me. Besides I'm around more than she is."_

_"...Because she lives in Wisconsin!"_

_"...Exactly! This baby needs a godmother who will be omnipresent!" the blonde pointed out._

_The other woman smirked. "Zora taught you a new word, I see...?"_

_Tawni stuck her tongue out at her friend._

_"Anyway..." the brunette continued "...the godmother does not need to be around all the time..."_

_"...But I will be around some of the time...more than Lucy, anyway."_

_"Tawni..."_

_"And I'll spoil her rotten!" Tawni promised "... Cuz that's what any good godmother would do, and God knows I'd be good at it, because spoiling a child involves buying them stuff! And who's better at spending money than me?"_

_The young woman just sighed and leaned her head back. "It's too late for this conversation."_

_Tawni frowned. "Yeah, what time did the Baby Daddy slash Devoted Husband say his flight was getting in, again?"_

_"Ten fifteen."_

_Tawni checked her phone. "Eleven fifteen," she said, then she glanced over at her friend "...but planes are late all the time. Or maybe he and James are just stuck in some late - night traffic, or something."_

_Her friend shrugged. "Probably."_

_"We can go inside if you want. The couch is probably more comfortable than the porch swing."_

_She shook her head and smiled at Tawni. "Nah...I like to sit out here...besides, the stars are really pretty tonight."_

_Tawni gazed at the sky as well. "Yeah, they are, aren't they?"_

_Just then, a police car pulled up in front of the house, its lights flashing._

_Spotting it, Tawni raised an eyebrow. "Your hubby only just got back into town tonight...what could he and James have done already?"_

_As two police officers got out of the car, the other woman's smile disappeared._

_"Tawni...I don't think there's anyone in the back of that car."_

_Tawni gave her a look that mirrored her own, then she clutched her friend's hand, and they stood up together and walked to the edge of the porch._

_As the policemen approached them, the dim yellow light of the porch revealed their somber expressions._

_"...Sonny Monroe - Cooper?" One of them asked._

_"Yes?" the brunette replied, her voice shaky._

_"I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, ma'am, but your husband was in a car accident...."_

_She could barely hear, could barely breathe, and if it wasn't for Tawni's arms around her, she would have fallen over. It was like every part of her body had ceased to function._

_Yet, somehow she was still able to hear the policeman's words, as he explained how James' car was hit by another car, whose driver had dozed off behind the wheel, while he had been driving through an intersection...coming back from the airport._

_...And the car had been hit on the passenger side._

* * *

"OK, people! let's move!" Tawni hollered, as they all piled out of the car and rushed over to Sonny. "Move, move, _move_! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is_ not a drill_!"

"It's not the military either, Tawni, you can calm down!" Sonny told her, as Tawni and James both led her to the SUV, quickly but cautiously.

"This is not a time to be calm, this is a time for being level - headed! Which I am!...I'm also the godmother, so I'm driving! Now everybody buckle up!" Tawni ordered, as they all got into the car, and Sonny smiled at Zora, who was in the seat next to her.

"How can you be level - headed, but not calm?" James asked, from the passenger seat.

"Shut _up_, James!" Tawni ordered. "Sonny, you buckled in?"

"Yup," Sonny replied.

"Do you have your suitcase?"

"It's in the back," Zora told her.

"OK, then, people, we're good to go!" Tawni exclaimed, as she pulled away from the curb and burned rubber down the street.

"Not too fast, Tawni!" Sonny instructed.

"Just on the residential streets, I promise!" Tawni told her, as they zoomed down the street.

Sonny smiled a little, and looked at Zora, beside her.

"Hey, Zora, how was the birthday party?" Sonny asked her young friend.

"It was pretty good,y'know...for an eighteenth," Zora told her, with a smile.

"Sorry I missed it."

"_I'm_ sorry that there wasn't more pregnant lady - friendly activities," Zora told her, "I didn't even consider you when I was planning it!...I'm really sorry, Sonny."

"It's OK," Sonny assured her, with a smile. "Whatever the activity, I would've spent most of my time going for pee breaks, anyway."

Zora smiled then pulled out her phone.

"I've got pictures of Nico and Grady on the Moonbounce if you're interested," she said.

"Definitely," Sonny replied, with a grin.

Zora pushed a couple of buttons on her phone, opening the digital photo album, then showed it to Sonny.

"I still say it's weird to have a _Moonbounce_ at your eighteenth birthday party," said James.

"Oh please," Tawni scoffed "...at your eighteenth birthday party, you had a clown!"

Zora and Sonny burst out laughing as James glared at his fiance.

"Some members of my family were there and the clown was there to entertain the younger members of my family!" he insisted.

"Chad once told me that you left the party with some balloon animals," Sonny told him, with a smirk.

"Try _five_ balloon animals...!"

"Tawni...!"

"Well you did."

James rolled his eyes.

"...Why do we insist on torturing _me_ today?" James asked the girls.

Holding her belly as a contraction came on, Sonny smiled weakly at James.

"Trust me, James, my torture is going to be _way_ worse than yours," she told him.

James looked back at her with a quizzical look.

"...How so?" he asked, as Tawni stopped the car at a red light.

The three women just stared at him.

* * *

Fourteen hours later, in the delivery room of California Mercy Hospital, the usually - bright and peppy Sonny Monroe - Cooper was screaming louder than she ever had before.

"_Ow_! Sonny, you're hurting my hand!" Tawni yelped, as Sonny squeezed her hand.

Panting, with sweat running down her face, Sonny glared at her friend.

"...Are you _kidding_ me?" she growled.

"...Right, sorry," said Tawni, brushing Sonny's wet bangs aside on her forehead. "You can do this, Sonny, it's gonna be OK."

"No, I can't, Tawni," Sonny replied, her voice thick with emotion. "I can't, I just can't."

"Sonny, we're gonna need another big push!" the midwife intructed.

"Did you not just hear me? I said I _can't_!" Sonny screeched.

"Yes, you can, Sonny, c'mon, you can do this! You're the strongest person I know!" Tawni told her.

Sonny shook her head as she leaned it back against the pillow.

"No," she sobbed "...no, I can't be strong anymore...not without Chad."

Tawni clasped her friend's hand in both of her own.

"He's with you, Sonny, you know he'd never leave you at a time like this!" she pointed out.

Sonny shook her head again.

"No, he's not here!" she sobbed.

"Sonny, he may not be here phsyically, but you_ know_ he's still with you!...I know you know it!" Tawni told her.

"...He was supposed to be with me today!" Sonny sobbed "...he always said he wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"...Sonny, you have to push!" the midwife told her.

"I can't!" Sonny cried.

"Yes, you can!" Tawni told her. "Look, this baby, it's you and Chad, you and Chad made this little person...you can tell it was you two because she's an impatient little sucker!"

"It's not necessarily a _she_! We - _I_ never asked to know the sex of the baby!" Sonny reminded her.

"...Sonny, whoever it is, it's got half of Chad's DNA, and half of yours," Tawni told her. "Honey, he's helped the two of you this far because he knows that you need each other!...This baby is a reminder of Chad that you get to see every day, and you can help her know her father by telling her stories about him!...He's not here in the flesh, Sonny, not completely...but he's in your heart, and your memories, and in this little baby who is trying _very hard_ to be born right now!"

Sonny took a deep breath, and exhaled.

She was right. Everything Tawni said was right.

Chad _was_ still with her, she could feel him in her heart every day...he wasn't going anywhere.

He was her strength, her hope...and he was giving her the greatest gift that he could.

...A legacy. A way for him to live on.

So Sonny pushed.

_"...Sonny....that's a nice name...!"_

_"...Sometimes people do things just to be nice!"_

_"Do they, Sonny? Do they, really...?"_

_"...Sounds like somebody cares."_

_"Somebody wanted to try on a weird beard..."_

_"Cares."_

_"Beards."_

_"Cares."_

_"Beards..."_

_"Well played, Monroe."_

_"Props accepted."_

_"We should hang out sometime."_

_"Camera's off, Chad."_

_"I know."_

_"...Put your arm around me!"_

_"Well, I would, but you sat on the wrong side! See, this arm says 'let's cuddle' and this arm says 'good game, bro...!'"_

_"Good!"_

_"Good!"_

_"Good!"_

_"Good!"_

_"...So we're good?"_

_"Oh, we're so good...!"_

_"...Sometimes, I heard, you get to have that...perfect dance, with that one special person...? Just gonna have to settle for me."_

_"...If I wanna think that you have pretty hair, I will...!"_

_"...And if I wanna think that you have sparkly eyes, I will...!"_

_"..Sonny, do you wanna go out with me?"_

_"What?"_

_"Do you wanna go out with me?"_

_"Like on a...on a date?"_

_"No, on a limb! Yes on a date!"_

_"Fine!"_

_"Fine!"_

_"Good!"_

_"Great!"_

_"I love you!"_

_"Well, I love you too, so there...!"_

_"...Will you marry me?"_

_"...Fine."_

_"Good."_

_"...I now pronounce you, husband and wife....you may kiss the bride."_

_"...I just don't want the baby to grow up to be a couch potato!"_

_"...YEEEES!"_

_"...Actually, I think it'll be a girl."_

* * *

Sonny and Chad's baby was born at 11:45 PM that night. She was healthy and strong, and everybody seemed to think that her bright blue eyes would stay blue.

An hour later, Tawni approached James in the hallway.

"I just called Lucy, and Sonny's mom," she told him "Lucy should be here tomorrow."

James nodded. "And is Mrs. Monroe's flu any better?"

"She said she's gotten a little better, but she's still not well enough to travel, so I've been instructed to take lots of pictures," Tawni replied.

James smirked.

"Well, Sonny's taking a nap now, so the nurses came and took the baby to the nursery."

Tawni's eyes lit up.

"Well, then let's go and see her!" she exclaimed, grabbing her fiance's hand and pulling him down the hallway.

"But - but - " James tried to protest.

"No buts, Conroy! I am this child's godmother, watching over her is my godmotherly duty!"

"Heh heh...Tawni said 'doody'..."

"...Out of my _way_, Grady!"

* * *

Later that night, or rather, earlier that morning, since it was around 1 AM, Sonny padded down the hallway in her blue bathrobe and matching slippers.

When she reached the nursery window, she saw Tawni gazing through the window, smiling.

Tawni hadn't noticed her. so she took the opportunity to watch her.

She was smiling, but her expression seemed very...focused, at the same time.

Deciding that she had been spying long enough, Sonny approached her friend at the window.

"Chad thought that it would be a girl, too," she said.

With a start, Tawni whipped her head around and sighed when she saw Sonny standing beside her.

"You scared me!" said Tawni.

"Sorry," Sonny replied, with a weak smile, then looked through the window at the baby directly in front of Tawni...hers.

Tawni quirked an eyebrow. "He seriously thought it was gonna be a girl? You would think that Chad Dylan Cooper, of _all_ people, would be hoping for a _male_ heir to the throne."

Sonny shrugged. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too...but I guess he wasn't as predictable as we used to think."

Tawni smiled, then returned her gaze to the sleeping baby in front of her. A few of the babies were fussing in their bassinets, but not the Cooper baby...she was sound asleep.

"She sleeps like a rock," said Tawni, as they watched the tiny baby.

Sonny nodded. "She gets that from him. That guy could sleep through a fire alarm...actually, he did once, when we were staying at a hotel."

Tawni smiled. "I'm sure she'll like that story, when you tell it to her."

Sonny nodded, silently.

Tawni put an arm around her friend. "I'm sure she'll like all of the stories about him."

Sonny snorted.

"Even the one about when he and the Mackenzie Falls cast glued us to our chairs, then created an egg salad boomerang that hit me in the face?" she asked, with a smile.

Tawni laughed. "Don't forget to mention the web video, that was a great."

"That's only because you weren't the one who got egg salad in her face," Sonny pointed out.

"...Well, yeah," Tawni admitted, with a small smile.

Sonny smiled at her.

"Thanks for bein' with me through this...all of this," she said.

Tawni, whose arm was still wrapped around Sonny's shoulder, gave her a light squeeze.

"Anytime, Mrs. Cooper," she said, using the nickname she had given Sonnyafter she and Chad had gotten married.

"Thanks, Future - Mrs. Conroy," Sonny replied, with a smile. "And that reminds me...you can go home now, if you want, everybody else went home a few hours ago, already."

Tawni shrugged. "Yeah, but they're quitters."

"But visiting hours have been over for a while now, Tawni...wait, so how were you able to stay this late, anyway? The doctors and nurses are pretty strict about visiting hours, aren't they?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah, but I may have made a bit of a fuss about it when I was asked to leave..." Tawni confessed, then gazed down at the sleeping baby "...that's also how I got your daughter moved to the front row...you're welcome, by the way."

Sonny smirked.

"Tryouts are over, Tawni...you're her godmother."

Tawni quirked an eybrow at her.

"I know," she said, like she had never doubted it for a second "...this is just what godmothers do....they watch over their godchildren."

Sonny rested her chin on Tawni's shoulder. "But they don't have to be _omnipresent_, Tawni."

Tawni glanced at her friend and smiled.

"I know," she said, then glanced back down at the baby "...that's her daddy's job now."

Sonny's smiled down at her daughter, as well.

"...It's after midnight, y'know," said Sonny. "So, technically, she was born yesterday."

"Yeah..." said Tawni, as she continued to watch the baby, then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, so that would make today - "

" - April 15th," Sonny answered "...it's April 15th."

"...Wow," Tawni murmered "...so she was officially born one day before her father's birthday."

"...Fifteen minutes, technically...but yeah," Sonny replied, with a small smirk.

"You think he somehow had something to do with that?" Tawni asked, with a smirk.

"Well, it's definitely the ultimate birthday present isn't it?" Sonny asked "...even if he's not here to enjoy it."

Tawni gave her friend's shoulder a light squeeze.

"He may not phsyically be here, Mrs. Cooper," Tawni told her, "but I guarantee that wherever he is...he's enjoying this."

Sonny thought for a moment, then looked over at Tawni.

"Y'know how they say, when you're about to die, your life flashes right before your eyes...?" she asked.

"Sonny..." Tawni began, worried that her friend was going to her sad place again.

" - That's what happened when I was giving birth to her," Sonny continued. "Every single moment I ever had with him, the big ones and the small ones...I remembered all of it."

Tawni smiled, and squeezed her friend's shoulder again. "And you always will. Well, you may forget some of it at some point, but that's OK...because even if you forget a moment or two, it doesn't mean that they didn't exist."

Sonny nodded, her eyes getting a little misty.

"They did exist," she agreed "...and they were great."

Tawni smiled.

"...And now, you have a chance to make a lot of new ones with her," she said, nodding to the baby.

Sonny nodded.

"Yeah," she whispered, her eyes not leaving her daughter's face.

Tawni nodded, then dropped her arm from around Sonny's shoulder.

"I'm gonna go and ask the nurse if she'll let me sleep in the empty hospital bed in your room," she said "...cuz there is no _way_ I'm gonna be able to sleep on one of those two - by - fours that they call cots!"

"Tawni..."

"No if's, and's, or buts, Mrs. Cooper...!" Tawni told her, as she started to walk down the hall "...Oh, and remind me to collect my fifty bucks from Nico and Grady tomorrow."

Sonny gave her a puzzled look.

"...Fifty bucks? For what?" she asked.

Tawni grinned. "We were all betting on baby names, and I was the closest."

With that, she turned and continued to walk down the hall, toward the nurse's station.

Sonny rolled her eyes and glanced down at her the large pink sticker on her baby's bassinet.

_I'm a Girl!  
My Name Is: Dylan Mackenzie Cooper _

_I Weigh: 7lbs, 7 oz._

Sonny smiled.

Chad did leave a legacy...and she was beautiful, with blue eyes and the slightest trace of blonde hair.

* * *

_...And if you're slightly confused about the "blue eyes" thing...all babies are born with blue eyes. But of course, sometimes their eyes change color...how long it takes, I don't know. I just know that they're all born with blue eyes.:):P_

_I really hope you like this story! I stayed up all night to write it._

_Reviews please and thank you!_

_Peace, Love, Ducks and Monkeys,_

_- IGottaFindYou_


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